Doosra
| Types | |
|---|---|
| Fast | |
| Spin | |
| Deliveries | |
| Fast | |
| Spin | |
| Other | |
| Actions | |
| Usual | Overarm |
| Other | |
| Illegal techniques | |
A doosra is a particular type of delivery by an off-spin bowler in the sport of cricket. The doosra spins in the opposite direction to an off break (the off-spinner's default delivery), and aims to confuse the batsman into playing a poor shot. Doosra means "(the) second (one)", or "(the) other (one)" in Urdu The delivery was invented by Pakistani cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq. A variety of bowlers have made considerable use of the doosra in international cricket. Users include Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan, Indian Harbhajan Singh, and South African Johan Botha. Other Pakistanis who use it include Shoaib Malik and Saeed Ajmal. A few bowlers, such as Johan Botha and Shane Shillingford, are not allowed to bowl doosras because, when they do so, their bowling actions are illegal.
The doosra is a relatively new type of delivery. Although some credit Saqlain Mushtaq with its invention in the 1990s, the history of off spinners turning the ball either way goes back as far as the late 1950s, when West Indian Sonny Ramadhin was able to achieve this. The naming of the delivery is attributed to Moin Khan, the former Pakistani wicketkeeper, who would call on Mushtaq to bowl the "doosra" (the other one) from behind the stumps. Tony Greig, a commentator in one of these matches, eventually linked the word to the delivery and confirmed it with Saqlain in a post-match interview. Thus the term became a part of cricketing culture. The doosra is now an important part of the off-spin armoury.
The bowler delivers the ball with the same wrist action by locking the wrist and using the index and ring fingers instead of the usual index and middle fingers. This gives the ball spin in the opposite direction to that for an off break, causing it to spin from the leg side to the off side to a right-handed batsman.
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